Scaling with Purpose with Brian Haney
Join us this week as we sit down with Brian Haney, CEO of LifeCare EMS of Georgia. Brian takes us through his incredible journey from the early struggles of starting an EMS business to leading a successful multi-million dollar company. Learn about the challenges he faced, the strategies he employed, and the lessons he learned along the way. Discover how he navigated financial hurdles, focused on quality over quantity, and expanded his business by building a strong network and brand. Whether you're looking to get into the EMS industry or interested in entrepreneurial success stories, this episode is packed with actionable insights and inspiration.
About Brian Haney
Brian Haney is a serial entrepreneur and CEO with a passion for service and resilience. After walking away from a six-figure corporate role to pursue more meaningful work, Brian’s journey has taken him from being a farrier to founding one of the Southeast’s fastest-growing EMS organizations. Today, he runs multiple companies across transport, billing, consulting, and auto sales, all rooted in the EMS space. Additionally, through One EMS, his nonprofit initiative, Brian is on a mission to open doors for the next generation of emergency responders.
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All right. We are back on site in Atlanta with Brian Haney to talk through the rest of your EMS journey. Yes. I think for those who haven't seen the last one, we took you up from the early days to a lot of strife. Mm-hmm. And tribulation to make sure that you finally started your first EMS business. We did.
We got that. Got through those initial opening days. Yeah. And that first year. And I think what we really wanna focus on today. Is what the rest of the journey looks like. Yeah. As you continue to [00:01:00] expand and grow and everything that you've built today. So why don't we kind of start where we left off. So you were about a year in Yeah.
And you made some things work, but still early stages. So what was next for you? Lemme summarize that first year real quick for you. Um, we didn't have a clue. We, we knew how to run calls. Yeah. We didn't know how to get the money in. Yeah. And that was the part that was missing. I think that's consistent for a lot of new people is they, they figure out how to move patients Yeah.
There and back, but not how to make any money off of that. Yeah, absolutely. And so if you don't have money coming in, the money going out, it's going to just become a burden and you shut down and get frustrated and quit and you don't wanna do that. But I finally got, I went through a couple of different, quote unquote outsourced billing companies.
Mm-hmm. Um, that knew what they were doing. They didn't, and I finally got with one. It took me about eight months. I finally got with one and money started coming in. Enough money, not all of it, enough money, and there's a lot of stories here, but enough money started coming in to where we could pay the bills.
And, uh, real quick, just some, [00:02:00] some highlights is, is, um, uh, the $30,000, $37,500 investment turned into a little over $110,000, which I had to pay back all the loans, the interest and. I had to pay 10% of the gross whenever I was ready to buy that per investor out. And that was when I learned the difference between 10% of the gross and 10% of the net.
But if you're willing to win, it really doesn't matter, but it's a big difference. But, uh, that year we finally got through, got to a company, we started learning how to get the money in. We started learning actually, and be very careful about this, but, uh, knowing what transports to take, what transports not to take.
Some will get paid, some won't get paid. Um, so that's just, you know, my, my kind of twist on that real quick. Yeah. And you become better at, at finding the ones or taking the ones that you can, and that's the other thing too, EMS is you don't have to take every private EMS, you do not have to [00:03:00] take every transport that comes in.
Well talk, talk a little bit about that because I know that, you know, when you're starting you're just like, I need clients, I need revenue, I need around calls. So how, how do you start to make that decision? Time And the more calls I run run, the more money you make. You don't. You do not. There's definitely a quality versus quantity scenario in every business, and, and there's definitely one in EMS, believe it or not.
Um, so all that being said, uh, insurance companies, uh, have several different factors, several different ways that you have to approach them in order to get paid. Well, a lot of hospitals, if you're looking at that route to transport for hospitals, they will just call you and, and not care whether you get paid or not.
They just want you to get the patient outta the hospital or to another hospital or back home. Yeah. They, they need the bed. They have more people coming in. It's not their job to know or care about what you do. That's fine. And you can run a little calls you want, and the hospitals will give you all the calls you want, but it doesn't mean you're gonna get paid and the hospital doesn't have to pay you.
Mm-hmm. So that's one. Um, and then understanding that factor is you start as a private EMS [00:04:00] service, you can start saying, Hey, I need to start focusing on these ones that pay. And the ones that pay is the ones that you constantly try to grow and do over a period of time. And that's becomes your bread and butter.
Yeah. And then if you can do other things, um, you, there's like prior authorizations you gotta get done. Uh, to qualify the patients before they get transported. Uh, from a hospital, you have a certain amount of time, whether it be a couple of days or a week, that you're allowed to get things, um, prior authorized.
Um, there's also, there's also, um, different kinds of, uh. Insurances that don't pay are not covered for hospital transports. Their insurance just doesn't covered. And that's the one thing for people in general, I'm talking to you and everybody else here, um, make sure that when it's, it's never expected you're gonna be on the back of an ambulance, but when you do, you're gonna get a 2000, $3,000 ambulance bill if you don't have, you know, uh, insurance for it.
Mm-hmm. So make sure when you are looking for insurance. Ask 'em [00:05:00] about ambulance transport. Ask 'em about not only ambulance transport in a 9 1 1 situation, but also ambulance transport. Behind the scenes, which private ambulances do private EMS does is behind the scenes transports. You gotta make sure that your insurance company's gonna be transporting you from a lower level hospital to a higher level hospital, and you don't have to pay for it.
Mm. So make sure you ask about those things. It's, it's, it's really important and I try to encourage a lot of people, I talk to anyone and everyone, um, when they try to talk to me about insurance, um, that take care of yourself. Yeah. Um, but all that being said, it, it's definitely, uh, something that I had to learn.
I lost a lot of money, a lot of money over it. Um, probably would, would've been retired if I could take that money that I lost and put it into an interest bearing account. Yeah. But, uh, you know, all that being said, it's just kind of one of those things where it's, it, you just don't know until you, you learn and feel it.
And so that's kind of what happened to me the first year. But, um, so now we're at the first year I got, uh, money coming in. We're we're turning bills. Um. You know, we return insurance claims, uh, everything's going well. [00:06:00] Uh, we're, we're, we're working with the dialysis clinics. We're expanding. We're growing, we're doing the best we can with loading up the trucks, running as many transports as we can.
So that's kind of the first year in the nutshell. And then, um, so our eyes are definitely set. I'm becoming not only. Um, doing enough business Yeah. In that area, but we wanna be number one in that area. How do you do that? Right? Yeah. It's a big, there's a big, big gap between I just started and I want to be the best Yeah.
In the region, the state, whatever it is. Mm-hmm. So, you know, that's a vision. Yep. But what, what'd you actually do to start getting there? Well, I did two things. One, I bought out my 50% partner, or my quote unquote, 50%. He was 45%. 'cause we gave, he gave 5%. I gave 5%, yeah. And I bought him out, got him gone, and then I bought out.
My investor. That was in the third year though. But I, I got them to sign a contract with me to leave. Mm-hmm. Uh, the second year that we started. And the reason why I was, is 'cause I knew that they would never be as hungry as I was to get going and, and make things happen because I definitely didn't want to just stay [00:07:00] at a two ambulance company.
They're gonna slow you down Absolutely. With the vision you had. Yep, absolutely. So growth was in my mind, I just didn't know which way besides being the best. In my territory. So that was like the first thing. If I can get the first call, I get the first chance, the first opportunity. I'm happy. You know, and that was kind of my next goal, you know?
And, um, and, and, and that's all we looked at. So I would make sure that I was customer service, I was doing follow up. I was making sure that, that everything that was, uh, being done. Uh, was being done for the right reasons. Uh, I think we talked about it just before we started here. Duplication, you know, what are you duplicating and is everything that you have going the right way?
So, um, but you know, that that billing department, uh, the billing company that we found and then duplicating the kind of transports we were wanting to do that we're paying. Mm-hmm. And, and, um, understanding that what the timelines we needed to work within to get. Payment from those, um, types of people.
Those were the things, and then I knew the fact that being the [00:08:00] first call that they would reach out to would solidify me in that territory as a very, uh, reputable, very professional and profitable company. Yeah. Okay. So it was all about making sure that you built a brand and enforced the right image of that brand so that as everyone got to know you, you got the first call, like you said, and you made sure that you got a second, third, fourth, and that everyone told.
Everyone else. Yep. What they can expect from you. Absolutely. And then build it from there. Yep. And so you're building processes that you wanna replicate, you're trying to expand, you know, how long was it before you started to add additional ambulances? Um, well, little, little quick story. Yeah. Um, didn't, money wasn't coming in real great.
Yeah. And when it didn't, I actually had a couple of ambulances, repoed, they found you again. That was the a, you know, history. You don't want history repeat itself. Yeah. It, it can repeat itself, but you don't want it to. Yeah. Um, so, and that, [00:09:00] that place and that space, it was just more so of finding that billing company that I said, you know, was telling you about.
But, um, while we were doing that, we finally found it. We had a couple replaced, but transparency and honesty will get you everywhere. It really will with anything, any way, any shape, any form in business. A lot of people feel like, you know, you need to keep your cards, you need to do this. You need that, no, I didn't have time.
I couldn't remember the lies. I couldn't remember what I said to somebody. I really didn't because I was the driver. I was the, the medic in the back. I was taking care of the patients. I was the salesman. I was doing the market. I was ordering the marketing supplies. I was doing the scheduling for the EMTs.
I was hiring, disciplining. I was doing it all. I was answering, I was the, uh, the dispatcher. And, um, I was the guy and, and I had a desk at the office and, um, you know, again, I would get my, my naps and I would get my two hours. Yeah. And, you know, and then I would head home when I think everything's done. And then by the time [00:10:00] I almost got into bed, I'd get a phone call.
And so, you know, going to that point. What I was trying to say is, you know, once you get these things done and after a year you're ready to go, you identify who you are, you identify the successful factors, and then you get going in duplicating those. And what I started to do was surrounding myself with people with the same beliefs because obviously I couldn't do it all anymore.
was hard for me to let go of those situations because you don't, you want to still keep that brand at that level, but you have to if you're gonna grow. Yeah. Once you realize that you start hiring people, promoting people, training people, seeing what level they can do strengths and weaknesses, was everything I was looking for.
Okay, you're good at, at doing the, uh, employee schedule, you're good at doing the patient schedule, you're good at marketing, you're good at, you know, X, Y, and Z and whatever that may be. And so those are the things that I was looking at through the people that I had. And then I was always recruiting. So I was working at the fire department still while I was running the business.
And I would talk to all my buddies who I thought and thought a lot of. And I had guys would drive an [00:11:00] hour, hour and 20 minutes to help me. Wow. Manage for me when I wasn't there. Yeah. I needed somebody there I could trust. Who do you trust? Your fire brothers. You go to school with them, you train with 'em, you fight fire with 'em.
You run EMS calls with 'em. You sleep in the same room as them. I mean, you eat with 'em. I mean, it's just your second family. It's who you trust. So that helped out a lot. And uh, you know, it's not gonna help in every situation, but it helped in mine. And again, this is me explaining, you know, my experience in this, in this industry.
So, yeah. So you had some resources that you were continuing to kind of build, you know, what would, what would you kind of view as your next big step? So, uh, it was expanding and, uh, networking Yeah. You know, is important. Knowing people in the industry. Um. Yeah. And, and like I said, I was sort of networked from geographically from my fire department to where my EMS station was, and I knew there was needs in other areas.
Yeah. So what I did is I said, okay, now that I'm the prominent, you [00:12:00] know, uh, provider here, I'm gonna go to this area because I hear there's needs, and then I'm gonna go meet with that person. I'm gonna find out what those needs are, and I found out what those needs were. And so I said, okay, hey, um, there's a little.
Space over here that we can rent. We can put a truck there. Let's start talking to my fire buddies. Do you know anybody in the area? Yeah, I know people in the area, uh, you know, EMTs, paramedics, whatever they were. Okay, we'll run this type of truck. We'll service this, uh, hospital and then we'll service these clinics that we know that they need help too.
So we sort of do a pre-plan of the area. Okay. Yeah. Once we do the pre-plan, we find out what, what our needs are. If it was one truck, two trucks. Four people, six people, paramedics, a advanced life support, basic life support, whatever it may be. We would go in there and do that, and then we would open up the doors and, and get going.
So that was my next expansion into, uh, a county about 50 miles away. Mm-hmm. Which was difficult. Yeah. And then, so at that point, I knew this thing was [00:13:00] growing and doing better, that I had to leave the fire department and manage this thing. So that was my, my separation point was two years in. Yeah. And uh, so once we did that, um, again, be careful what you're duplicating and who you surround yourself with to help have the same vision as you do, and the same desire to do a good job.
Mm-hmm. So that was kind of my next step into growing. We went from two trucks and then to four trucks, and then we ended up with eight trucks and I stayed there for about. About, uh, seven, eight years, we stayed around eight trucks. So eight trucks was the size that you got pretty comfortable with? Very comfortable, yeah.
And I actually started hiring people to run the operations. Mm-hmm. And training people to do the operations because like I said. It took me with a two and a, if you're counting the two and a half years of preparing for this and not sleeping, and I know not sleeping is a, is a, is a situation for a lot of people, but for me, I was in a different scenario.
I was in a different state of mind. And not everybody's gonna have this because guess what? If you have the proper finding, you sleep as much as you want, you really can. Yeah. But it's also just like you said, [00:14:00] it was. You did what you had to do in the moment, but I had to to make it work. And you did it and it worked.
Yep. So I had to, yeah. For me, I, I, I didn't have a big investor, deep pocket investors. I didn't have all these things and uh, but it can be done a different way. Yeah. My way is not anybody else's way. But it's definitely a way that's been paved and I've learned all where all the landmines are and I've learned where, what to not to do, how to do it, shorten the learning curve and make things happen faster for anybody.
Yeah. Yeah. And so that's what my experience is in, in, in telling my story. But my story is unique to me. So my story makes me who I am and, and kind of at this point in my life where. You know, I'm, I'm really happy with how it went because I wouldn't have changed any of it. Yeah, it was fun. It was really scary, but fun.
Okay. But, so once we got to eight, um, and I went through a ton of managers, I probably hired over 300 people and fired over 350 people, and finally aligned myself with some solid people that just wanted a good job and wanted to do the right things. And that, that helped out a lot, but ultimately it got to [00:15:00] a point to where I kept growing and other people weren't.
Yeah. And so I wanted more to do more, so I'd always try to align myself and look for that next person to help me get there. And it always worked out. Doors were always open. Like I said, there's always a spiritual aspect to this as well. And you always wanna stand still before you move, uh, just to make sure Yeah.
At this point, because you do have something to lose at this point with eight trucks. Yeah. And so I took some time off and I gained, I gained back time with my kids. I gained back time with my family and I walked away from the businesses. Not totally walked away, but walked away. Far enough to where I felt comfortable.
It scared the crap outta my wife because she's more of a micromanager than I am. Okay. Yeah. And I was, I knew I was building something for me. Yeah. To where I could have that quality of life to where I don't, I could build it as big as I want. As big as I want, and the only thing I gotta do is make a couple of phone call.
I tell everybody that works for me. My upper level managers, if they're serious about it, I bring them in and I talk to 'em and I say, my goal for this business. [00:16:00] My dream for this business and it will be a goal one day, and it's actually coming true June 22nd. Okay. Um, and, and then you're talking 15 years now.
Um, you know, maybe a little bit longer, 17 and a half if you count the times of business sucker. But I always had the intentions of being able to run these businesses from a boat offshore. Far enough to where I'm almost to the seaweed line to where I can find some fish, but close enough to where I still get laptop reception to where I can see the reports.
Check in with cellular with my managers For about an hour and then go, yeah, I said that's it. And, and, and June 22nd. Guess what? I'm gonna be starting that. That dream work from boat? Yeah. June 22nd, 2025. Where will you be? What part, what? Uh, the golf s Sebastian, Florida. Okay. Uh, Sebastian Flo. It's on the Atlantic side.
It's, uh, treasure Coast. It's, it's probably 50 70 miles north of West Palm Beach, Florida. Well, congratulations. It's right on the water. Yeah. And there's a [00:17:00] dock. And I gotta go get my boat once I, once we close on the house. Yeah, I think that'll be that moment I think where you're working from the boat and you can just visualize the sleepless nights and everything it took to get there is, is gonna be surreal.
You know what's scary? What? I don't remember. One of them. I don't, it's. Unless I really think about it. Yeah. Which you don't want to. Yeah. It's a part of your life you went through, but yeah, it's, it's what actually, it was like going to college for 13 years. It was like going to high school. Yeah. It was like, you know, peer pressure in middle school.
I mean, it was all of that crap. Yeah. But it was something you had to go through. Yeah. And it, it, it, I would do it again and I would've done it longer to get to where I am. And by the grace of God, I'm holding onto this and it's growing by itself. It's, it's a self growing monster. And it's a good monster.
And so, so how large have you gotten now? Uh, just, you know. Okay. So eight years we were looking at that. So, um, we are, right now we purchased our 52nd ambulance and we are in eight [00:18:00] offices across the state of Georgia. We're going into Alabama, that'll be four more ambulance. So we about 56, 57 ambulances by the end of the year.
Yeah. And, uh, we're gonna be running about. 70 to 75,000 transports per year. Wow. From nothing to a dream, nothing for years to putting stuff on paper for years to a very large business. Yes. I, I don't know if you can give any kind of range of what, like revenue, what does that look like at that size business?
Just for people? Uh, just a cap it on an annual rate, you're looking anywhere from 15 to 17 million a year. Yeah. Yeah. So thinking about that, it's just. Crazy to compare those two parts of your life from having two ambulances. Repoed. Uhhuh. Yeah. Yeah. Now, and I, and I know too that that's not the only business you started in this space.
So beyond just expanding and growing to where you are, what are some of those other kind of wings of the business that you created? Evolution. Evolution of the business. Evolution of need of the business that was not [00:19:00] being filled. Okay. Just like the ambulance service. Once I knew I could open it up, I knew I'd be good at it.
I knew I could learn it. I knew I could do it. Billing's. The biggest problem with AI service. Yeah. No cash flow. No go. If you don't have any money, real doesn't matter. Yeah. If you get all the money you wanna spend, go on out. You ain't nothing coming in. Doors will close. Yeah. I promise you. You can open up as many businesses you want.
You can close as many as you want. If nobody's coming in, you're done. Um, so I had to learn, and again, going back to the billing company, they were doing about 60% of income for me. I needed the other 40%. Actually, I needed at least another 30 of the 40%. And the other 10% I could just get when I could get it.
But really operationally, 90% cash flow would be great for any company. Mm-hmm. Uh, outta the a hundred percent that you're trying to collect. So all that being said, uh, you get to a point to where it's like, okay, I can do this better. I know I can, so you figure it out. So yeah, I get software, well, I got the software and how I negotiated the software as a different story the guy owed me or did not collect.[00:20:00]
About $365,000. I went into the owner of the billing company and I said, this is not gonna happen again. I said, I want, uh, I want, uh, reimbursement for that money since it's timely and there's time that goes by and you can't collect on insurance claims. And he said, what do you want? And I said, I'm definitely leaving you as a client and I want one year's worth of software billing so I can build for myself and I need to be taught.
So I took two people that I knew myself and my wife. And I think that was it. Okay. And we went down there and we spent a few days and we learned how to bill. Once you learned how to bill from that software, that was it. We started building our own spreadsheets. I actually had a legal pad, several legal pads, and I had a reconciliation process of, I ran this many calls this day.
These were the run numbers. We submitted this many calls that, that evening or the next morning, these were the same run, uh, run numbers. And then I made sure that those run numbers from that batch that we sent up came in and they all got paid. And if they didn't, I'd [00:21:00] call and find out why. Yeah, this is simple.
What we do is simple. You can make it as difficult as you want. I was gonna say it is. But if you're organized and you have a plan and you execute your plan and you be consistent in your plan, you're unstoppable, you will, your longevity in this business will make you great. It will force you to be great.
There's no other option because you will get constant phone calls because everybody else is failing. If you can go ahead and pick up these patients to transport, you're gonna grow. Mm. So, uh, that's kind of what we did and we were really good at it. Well, they tried to come back and get our business and the person that can tried to come back and get our business and billing was the owner's, uh, daughter and the owner's daughter, um, was just impressed of what we were doing.
She goes, we're losing people left and right. She goes, I'm not a greedy person. She goes, would you be willing to share this with other people? And I said, yeah, yeah, I'll teach anybody. Yeah, this is, I, I'm just totally about that. You know, pay it forward. And um, she was like, great. She goes, would you be able to bill for these people if they weren't interested in doing it [00:22:00] themselves?
And I said, I don't know about that. She goes, well, I do. I said, let's talk. And so we talked. And so that's the evolution of Uhhuh, where the billing company that I opened up in 20 20 14, 15, 20 15, I opened that one up. And, uh. And we've been rocking and rolling there. We have a little over 30 clients. We're more of a boutique.
Mm-hmm. We we're the people that show up when you got no other option. Okay. And we're like, we're gonna take care of you and we're not gonna rip you off, and we're not gonna charge you through the nose. And we're gonna make sure that you know exactly what you're getting paid on and what you're not getting paid on, and explain to you why.
Mm-hmm. And we're gonna help you design your company the way you want to do it, the way that you see it fitting into your lifestyle. Yeah, it's, it's, it sounds like it's just one of those things that out flowed from, I need to do this myself. Mm-hmm. Turns out a lot of people needed this, and we built a process and I can help you get there.
Uh, I had eight clients within 60 days because that's how bad it was. Yeah. And she knew 'em all. And again. Know your networks. Build your network. Yeah. You never know who, what path you're gonna cross with. What person [00:23:00] keep their car. I'm still waiting to hear if, if, uh, horse trimming comes back into the story.
You know what, I still trim my own horses. Oh really? Yeah. Wow. Okay. So it's a skill you maintained and I'm gonna keep doing it. That's great. I don't wanna lose it. So, uh, after billing, I know there's some others. What was, what was kind of the next, uh, evolution? Uh, next evolution was, uh, billing consulting.
Yeah. Obviously. Yep. And then, um, now I am looking at, I just opened up my own auto brokerage and, um, I'm, I'm brokering new and used ambulances, so that's another thing we're doing too as well. Yeah. So basically all parts of this equation, they, it's big circle. That you can provide. You got the expertise and there been there.
Guess what? People are looking at me. They're asking me, Hey, what would you do here? What would you do there? That's where the consulting came from. Yep. And then, Hey, do you have any ambulances for sale? Do you know anybody with ambulances for sale? Yeah. Hey, am I getting a good price? Yeah. Well, I guess I might as well sell it to you.
And I'm like, I can help you. Okay. So, and I said, why not make some money off of it? So that's, yeah, why not? Yeah, I've got it. [00:24:00] And connections I opened, I literally opened the doors last year, actually. Yeah, last year, I think in October. And we, we really didn't get our anything off the ground until like January.
We did our first deal in January. Now we've done about eight deals and there's money in the bank account. Yeah. And I'm just like, I don't even have need it or touch it or anything. And I'm just like at a point to where it's just like, this is great. Like, and it's just coming because it's a part of that evolution.
A part of that thing you built so many years ago. Mm-hmm. And all those people that you met along the way has got you here and then now it's got you here and now it's got you here. And it's been an evolution since. So, yeah. And guess what, sitting here with you is freaking me out because I'm just like.
How'd I get here? Yeah. I do know how I got here. Yeah. You know, you can look back and trace it, but when you there, it was the craziest thing in the world. Yeah. You met Jake. I know Jake. I've known Jake for a long time. Jake with Veritas equipment. He's the finance guy. He is the finance guru. He's the guy you wanna call when everybody else says, no, Jake will get it done.
He'll get you the ambulance. And he might not be the [00:25:00] one you exactly want, but it's a ambulance that you can operate and make happen. And that, that was a pivotal point in my life too, that I didn't talk about in growth is you need somebody in support. 'cause you're not always gonna have the cash for it, you know?
And so that was the thing with Jake that I always had to, to reach out to. And he was always there for me in the corner, encouraging me in one way shape for. Form. And once you guys contacted Jake do a little speaking engagement, he said, I'm not going to do anything without Brian. And I'm like, thanks a lot, Jake.
I get to do this great stuff that I've never really wanted to do in this light, but I'm definitely interested in doing now that I'm actually doing it. It I met, I met you, I met Giovanna, I met all these great people in here, Shelby and, and everybody. And it's just like, Hey, I'm here telling my story. And I love, I love telling people my story.
I just didn't know I'd be doing it on film Uhhuh. So that's the kind of thing now you get to tell a lot of people. Yeah. And I, I think there's also the, you have a, uh, a nonprofit as well that you started up. Yeah. And so that was the passion for the industry just because there's lack of it. Number one, it was the $10 27 cents that I was making.
People go get certifications, but we're out in the field [00:26:00] and you got a paramedic that's out in the field making decisions that an ER doctor makes in the the ER room in the hospital. And the paramedics out there doing the same life saving treatments that an ER doctor would in the hospital. The ER doctor would actually do a little bit more because he has more, you know, he has more staff, he has more educated staff, he has more drugs, he has more equipment, he has more dah, dah, dah, dah.
Mm-hmm. We don't have that out in the field. So for me it was just a slap in the face that I gotta work 60 hours outta 72 to make a living and, and make a blue collar living. When you got, we're doing the same thing out in the field that physicians are doing and Yeah, they go get a higher education. I'm not putting it down whatsoever.
You've earned it. Yeah. You know, you, you got the, uh. You know, the school loans, you got all that stuff and you know, and you definitely have the education, you have the tools that, you know, at that level you should be performing at. But, uh, you know, I definitely wanted to see that. So, one EMS became a passion for me from the industry inside, just from the fact that we needed to start getting paid more and then the, the diminishing amount of people that were coming into the medical field.
So that was one [00:27:00] EMS and really one EMS, uh, uh, what we started now is offering the opportunity. For anyone, anywhere, shape or form that's interested in the medical field, to come into the medical field and see if it fits for them. Hmm. See if serving people in their time of need in emergency is the thing that they want out of life and get paid for it, and nowadays you're getting paid for it.
Well, anywhere from $50,000 a year to the basic level, up to a hundred thousand dollars a year, a paramedic. So e explain a little bit more. I, I know you're saying it enables medical education, enables people to learn about the space, but what, what is it that you guys are actually doing? So what we're doing is we're applying for, for, um.
Grants. Okay. We're applying for, um, donations and we're asking for donations, and what we do is we go to career academies. And what we found is that we go to those trade academies, we go to those trade schools, and we find out that a lot of people wanna get in the trades, but a lot of people, college ain't for them.
So we go to the schools, we, we reach high schools, we reach out to all sorts of people. We actually take the ambulances, um, and go to [00:28:00] middle schools, you know? Yeah. And the inner surgery stuff that you should do and give back and, and, and even elementary schools. The kids love it and they just, they think it's cool when you light it up and do the sirens and stuff, but it also gives that, that sense of pride and that sense of service.
You know, a lot of people, the military's not for them. Yeah. And they're looking for a paramilitary or a way to serve. Yeah, yeah. A way to serve and give back and make a living out of it. And, uh, so we, we, we try to educate that and try to start from a younger age versus just waiting for people to make a life change like I did.
And, um, because there's a huge need, just like in any healthcare industry, whether it's the hospital or EMS or fire, whatever it may be. Um, we we're trying to get ahead of that curve so we can, we can get people interested back into it again. Yeah. I'm, I'm sure that's a big part of the problem. Yeah. Is just not even being aware.
That those paths exist. Mm-hmm. And what your lifestyle could look like and that you don't necessarily have to go to medical school. Right. And so I'm sure a lot of it's just kind of opening people's eyes Yep. Especially at a young age to what those opportunities are. Mm-hmm. But then actually paving the path for them to get there.
Absolutely. And we can do it quicker now because the [00:29:00] state of Georgia is, you know, every state has a different level of, of, uh, EMT. Yeah. And so, uh, at the beginning for me it was like EMTI was the only EMTI intermediate was the only one that you could get to. And, um, so they don't have that anymore. You can go basic, you can go advance, you can go paramedic.
Um, so those are the new options. But the thing is, is they, they, they take a year to achieve those certifications and you gotta pay about five to $7,000. You gotta spend days, nights, whatever you're putting a huge investment in. And what happens if you don't like vomit or blood? Yeah. If you don't find that out early.
So now they have an R program so you can find out if you like vomit or blood. I know. I don't, I know. That was never my path. Yeah. And uh, so it's cool and it takes about three months. Yeah. And it's about 800 bucks and you can do it at night school and it takes three weeks, like I said, and, um, you know, or you don't know, and you haven't wasted time in a lot of money to, to achieve that.
So we're subsidizing, we're paying for, and we're also just offering classes to anyone that can afford to do it. Yeah. And, um. We're just trying to make it happen one [00:30:00] way, shape, or form. Because if, you know, um, the way you eat an elephant, one bite at a time, if everyone would just do a little bit, everything, a lot of things would change.
And so, um, and then obviously bringing in the, the, the pay preference would be a great thing. And then also my thing I'm most passionate about, which those two I very am, uh, passionate about, but the most passionate one is I always felt like the redheaded step child is a private ambulance owner. So we're for, for-profit.
Mm-hmm. Uh, nine one ones County Services, city Services. Uh, they're not for-profit. They're non-profit. And what they do is they get the grants, they get the subsidies, they get the state money, the federal money, the tax monies. They get, you know, all the trauma, money, um, to buy medical equipment, supply, so on and so forth.
I, I don't get that as a private Amen. Service. And it really perplexed me because I have to meet all those requirements. I have to do the state, I have to do all these things that they do. Yeah. But just because I'm a for-profit company, which. Guess what, if they don't break even, guess what they do? They hire a private [00:31:00] ambulance service.
Mm-hmm. And they outsource the 9 1 1 service to a private ambulance that's for profit to come in, solve problem, and they gotta make money. So really everything's for a profit. You have to, even when nonprofits wanna make a profit and so they can keep growing and do what they need to do. So, uh, it's, it's perplexing to me that we're not inclusive and we're not as good as when.
We are as good as we're taking care of the patients behind the scene, more so after they've been taken to the hospital. So all they do is get 'em to the hospital and then we gotta figure out how to get 'em back to wherever or to a higher level of care. So it's a little bit more intensive. And, and I'm not saying what 9 1 1 does, is, is any way, shape or form, uh.
Any less compared to what we do. I'm not trying to say we're we're the best, we're better. I'm just saying we're a part that they're not wanting to be a part of.[00:32:00]
About that. I'm just saying that we're not, uh, we're excluded from certain things that, that they're included and, but we round out what they don't do and we finish what they don't do. And, you know, it, it's very, I, I meet with EMS directors everywhere. I consult with E em s directors. I bill for EMS directors and, um, they even know the value of private ambulance services.
They just wanna make sure that for them, that they are doing and. And being as compliant as they are because in private EMS you could run, there's no year on an ambulance that you can't run. There's some services out there that should be outta service. I'm sorry to say that. Raise your game ladies and gentlemen.
Raise your game. Get some newer equipment. Ain't gotta be brand new. And uh, get some uniforms that look good and some ambulances look good. And make sure if you were gonna put your grandma in that thing. Or grandpa or a family member that you love dearly about [00:33:00] that you would want to put them in yours. So that's kind of the way I look at things too, as well.
Yeah, so there's so much, you know, it's that from, from that alone is so much that you're doing for the community. Yeah. You look back, you've built all of these different pieces of a business. You're on really, you know, a pretty high summit compared to, you know, where you were. But if you were to look back on yourself or on anyone.
Who's trying to get into this business. They're looking at the mountain they have to climb. You know, you've given us a lot of wisdom already, but just your thoughts on somebody who's in that mindset of, I wanna get into this business. What should I be doing? Or how should I be preparing? Yeah, what would you give 'em?
Number one, you gotta be interested in it. Yeah. You know, if I, I, I'm not interested in a lot of things and there's a lot of businesses out there like dry cleaning or, you know. Hotels. Right? It's just not an interest to me. Um, I was interested and, and for me it was specific, it was easy for me to transition to this [00:34:00] as an ownership for all those that any type of business you wanna get into, if you're interested in it, that's the most important thing to start you off.
Number two is, is. Do you wanna be an owner or do you wanna wait? Or do you wanna be the guy that works your way up into being a chief executive officer? Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Because there's nothing wrong with that. You're gonna do very well as a chief executive officer in the hotel industry. Uh, maybe not so much at a pizza restaurant.
But you know, everything has its limits. If you love to make pizza and you love people and you love to see people eat and all that, then then your reward is exactly what you wanted. Mm-hmm. But all that being said, um, if you were to go to look at getting into the ambulance side, and that's the only thing I can really speak of is that you definitely.
Uh, wanna make sure you got a good plan in place. Make sure you got the, the money to back you because, and, and then make sure you got a good billing, uh, a billing process. And, um, make sure you have somebody that you can call out to refer to that can educate you on shortening [00:35:00] your learning curve. And, uh, there's plenty of people out there that will do that.
Um, not necessarily for free. Um, but there are definitely people out there that will help you to get in. Enter into that space. And, uh, again, for those that are, that have started the, the space and are stumbling and bumbling, um, there's also people to help you, you know, reach out. Now, I've never seen more coming together of private ambulance services in small groups.
Um, especially when you're in certain geographic areas, they reach out to each other. They depend on each other because you can't do it all. I tell every hospital that we have a contract with every clinic that we have a, um, contract with. I'm not your answer. I'm a part of your answer. Hopefully I'll be the majority of your answer.
But can I work with these other people? Can I, can I bring in some people that I know that are reputable, dependable, professional, that will make sure that they get here when I'm not, because I don't have enough trucks to service all these transports. Yeah. So can we network and do the right thing for you?
And it's always been Yes. And, and that's the, [00:36:00] that's the changing of the industry that I see taking place. Uh, once we get to the people that. Can truly make those decisions at the state level and federal level. Yeah. So, so politics next. I'm telling you, I'm ready to go. I mean, anytime, uh, Trump or, uh, or Kennedy wants to sit down and, and I will definitely point out the things that need to be fixed to fix this problem and, and a few other things that are, you know, they, they say common sense, right?
They're the common sense party. I like, you're still missing a few things and, uh. And I can definitely help you out with the, uh, the ambulance side. Okay. Well, that's the next step I'm looking forward to. That's a challenge, to a, to hearing that, that next step in your journey once you're, once you're on that stage too.
I don't, it'll be if I, I fully believe that if you decided to get there, you would. It will be. I got a few more things to do. Um, I'm not necessarily ready for that yet, but like I said, I. I got a exit strategy, uhhuh and a, and an entrance strategy. And, um, I'm working on that plan. So start your plan. It all starts here, then here, and then on a piece of paper.[00:37:00]
And, um, it will become a reality. It has no other choice to either become a reality or you just pass it off and not do it. Do something else. Yeah, well I'll leave it at that. You know, Brian, you talking us through your journey talking where you've taken this business has been I think both enlightening to what is possible, but just encouraging as you see what you can be capable of, what, what opportunities exist in this business if you're willing to work for it.
And, and again, this is specific to me. Yeah. This was a journey. Yeah. It doesn't have to be a journey. It can be so easy from a starting standpoint if you do want to get into this space, it's so easy. If it's something you want to grow, it's really more easy than you think it is. It might seem overwhelming when you're starting or wanting to be small or, or being small and wanting to grow.
And then lastly, um, if you're looking to get into the space and just create a, a cashflow generating business. It's consistent, and guess what? It's COVID proof. Mm-hmm. Ask me how I know I didn't get shut [00:38:00] down. Actually my business increased. Yeah. During those, those times where, uh, other, other industries were having to have a hurt.
Yeah. And, and looking for other ways to, to generate that, that income or, or generate that lifestyle or generate any kind of, uh, security. Yeah. Because at the end of the day, as unfortunate as it is, people are always gonna get sick. People are always gonna need help. People are always gonna need you in the healthcare field.
Perfect. Alright, Brian, I appreciate you being out here. Yes sir. Thanks for being here and talking through the story. Love it.
